PhD position (m/f) in Metagenomic analysis of soil microbial diversity in European forests from different biomes and tree diversity levels in the Department of Soil Ecology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) within the SoilForEUROPE project. SoilForEUROPE is a joined project in the frame of the ERA-Net “BiodivERsA” Project, which is co-granted by the EU Commission and national Agencies from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

As a result of “global distillation”, which is the long range atmospheric transport and subsequent deposition in colder environments, remote arctic environments are highly contaminated with POPs posing a severe risk for ecosystems and human health. There is increasing evidence that this process is also relevant for mountain regions in Europe including the Pyrenees with high atmospheric deposition of polybromodiphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), legacy organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) but also conventional pesticides including organophosphates, triazines, urea herbicides, anilines and anilides. Depending on their physicochemical properties, POPs are deposited associated to particles or accumulate in particulate organic matter (POM) after deposition in the lakes.